Establishing your creative niche in a crowded marketplace: why the world still needs you

We’ve all been there.  Watching wistfully from the sidelines at our competitors’ online followings, high-profile customers and sales, or all-round enviable lifestyles as we mildly indulge in cyberstalking them (social media reflects reality, right?).  Then it hits: retreating into a cloud of paralytic inferiority, we wonder why we ever believed in achieving something similar. Surely, there can’t be space for us in a crowded marketplace already served so well?

The good news is that we are not alone in feeling this way – but what will define our careers is whether we stay in this place, or choose to move through it.  The bad news: in case we were hoping to copycat our way along, true and lasting success is all about authenticity, and will require us to dig a little deeper. It’s time we challenged ourselves to release the need to seek attention or to ‘stand out’ in preference of pursuing something more meaningful and lasting – after which, the rest will follow more easily.

Some reasons why you can have confidence to proceed with a genuinely valid product or service, even when the market seems saturated:

• It’s a big world out there, with plenty of potential customers;

• If others are succeeding in your sphere, it proves that there is an audience for it;

• Popular products will always need more than one supplier to keep up with demand;

• Variety is the spice of life! Just because someone (or many others) are doing very similar things, doesn’t mean your product or service isn’t valid.  After all, don’t you listen to music by a variety of musicians, buy clothing from different stores, and drink coffee from many cafés?

Next steps - where should you begin when cultivating a unique identity (ie. branding) for yourself as part of establishing your niche?

1. Know yourself better! Successful creatives have a strong sense of identity and purpose, and truly understand what makes them tick.  Customers and audiences intuitively gravitate to them. What motivates you in this sphere? Far beyond the token ‘finding fame and fortune’ is where the truth lies.  Does your work make you feel incredibly alive, or perhaps express a deep conviction for social justice? Does it allow you to invest in your community, or support working parents? Whatever it is, be brutally honest and know that this purpose must shine through;

2. Allow the most authentic version of yourself to be seen – loud and proud! It’s completely terrifying, but this is where the magic happens. As the saying goes, ‘if you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.’ It is so important to properly establish the groundwork for a distinct branding that people can engage with, believe in and share with others.  Many of us tend to draw the line at this level of public vulnerability and only pursue goals until we can cover our tracks if/when it doesn’t work out. This is one situation, however, where it’s all or nothing;

3. Deeply consider the role of your audience: who they are, what they value, and how you can serve them in a way that aligns with your fundamental purpose.  Authentically honouring the needs of your audience also gives them permission to be the best versions of themselves – and you will see the results.

In consideration of your audience’s needs, can you add value (before they are even your customers)?

You could try:

• offering regular professional insights via email newsletters, a podcast or social media;

• delivering pop-up events or workshops;

• building a community of like-minded people to champion a cause strongly aligned with your product or service;

• situating yourself as a leader in your sphere by inviting colleagues to come together, sharing common concerns and driving initiatives to support your industry or region.

Delivering this level of consistent connection is the key to building your core tribe, and steadily accelerating your career. Treat this relationship with the utmost respect: if customers can get similar products or services elsewhere, they will choose to support you because of the bond you have built and what you continue to offer them. Ensure that potential collaborations or changes in direction remain aligned with this audience (unless you are trying to build a new one). 

As a final note on the true nature of competition with colleagues, I think it’s time we left behind notions of ‘us versus them’. We are all in this together, and innovation within the creative industries is hindered by our fragmented communities and general insecurities. This is particularly evident in Australia, where we are also relatively isolated from the rest of the world. Time spent glancing sideways or undermining each other is time taken from developing the best versions of ourselves and succeeding – which ultimately benefits everyone.

Drawing from diverse backgrounds in health, science and the public art gallery sector, Liesl Harvey’s passion lies where the creative industries intersect with business and audience development. She explores a variety of relevant topics and shares inspiration from around the globe via her Instagram account, @thedailyculturepreneur.

Meet the CWC team: Bec Mackey

Team CWC! Left to right: Alessandra Azzone, Yvonne Meng, Samantha Jayaweera, Anika Cook, Fiona Brand, Bec Mackey, Liz Anderson, Jane Connery

We recently sat down and interviewed our new board members to give you a chance to get to know them better, and we’ll be featuring one of these Q+As each week on the blog. Before we do though, today we are excited to introduce you to Bec Mackey, our new Content and Marketing Manager!

What is your current business/creative pursuit/job?

My new job is Content and Marketing Manager for CWC! So far I’ve been loving working alongside the talented board members, engaging with our awesome members, and I’m looking forward to working to champion, connect and support more amazing creative women through our new marketing and member initiatives. My personal creative pursuit is writing, and I’ve just started an Instagram account called @_conversationswithmysister to experiment with a bit of microblogging. I have a one year old daughter so on the days I’m not working I’m spending most of my time playing with (and running after) her!

Can you outline the journey that got you here? What previous work/creative pursuits/life decisions brought you to this place?

I started my career working as a Producer making TV commercials. I eventually moved into Television for a while, and then gave up my producing hat in favour of working in business and management in TV and Film at ABC and Screen Australia respectively. During this time I also did my teaching dip ed. I absolutely love to teach but after finishing my diploma I was drawn back into the screen industry. Eventually I realised I had pretty much given up all creativity in favour of more linear business and operational roles, so I quit my full time job and went on a bit of a journey of self discovery. Since then I’ve freelanced as a producer again, served on the CWC board, starting writing again on my own blog, done some teaching, and in the past few years, worked in a very similar role as to my current role with CWC at an Arts Education organisation which is also membership based. A year ago I had my daughter and it helped clarify that working with people and organisations with similar values to my own is really important to me. My time is suddenly very precious and I want to spend it wisely.

When did you first come across Creative Women’s Circle?

During my journey of self discovery as above! I came along to the first ever board info day that Tess McCabe held and it was love at first sight. I knew straight away I wanted to be involved.

How has your experience been with CWC?

When I attended the board info day back in 2015, it was at a time when I didn’t feel I had a lot of colleagues or friends who understood where I was at in a career or creative sense. I was blown away by the combination of Tess’s vision for CWC and the inclusivity within the CWC community that she had created. That day she brought together a group of brilliant and supportive women, many of whom I am lucky to call friends to this day. Throughout the past few years I have always felt equal parts supported and inspired by the CWC members, board and volunteers. It really is a special organisation.

How would you describe the value of membership with CWC?

Its so worthwhile. Besides the list of benefits, there is the added bonus of being part of such a beautiful community. Our members often find themselves collaborating with other women they have connected with via CWC, or volunteering with our organisation to build on their skills and their network. There are many possibilities beyond the events, discounts and resources - all of which are brilliant too of course!

Which creative person, living or dead, do you most admire and why?

I just love Cleo Wade, the artist/poet/feminist.  She is one of those people who has found a way to articulate brilliantly what so much of the world is feeling at the moment, and her success is in part due to her genuine kindness and drive to create a connected community. Cleo, along with other artists who use Instagram to soothe our collective soul, showed me that I can write from my heart and still value activism, research and intellect. Its a lie that these two sides of ourselves don’t go together, and art is where they best meet.  

How do you challenge yourself creatively?

By getting out of my comfort zone and trying new things. It’s a bit of a cliché, but it works.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in your current career? What is your ‘other’ dream job/business? 

I sometimes fantasise about finding some great properties around Victoria to turn into Airbnbs that I would manage. That, or running an amazing social enterprise. You know, the small goals!

Where do you see Creative Women’s Circle heading over the next two years? Why is this a great time to renew/sign up or volunteer to join the CWC community?

The legacy set up by the outgoing board is awesome and inspiring. The next two years will be an exciting time of building on the work the previous board has done and we expect a lot of growth for CWC. There will be new and more widespread events, exciting new initiatives for members and a LOT of connecting to do. Come, join us now and be part of something wonderful!

Bec Mackey is a writer, producer and teacher. She has worked in media and the arts for over a decade as a producer, in arts administration/management and arts education. Bec believes in the power of words – to connect, to galvanise and to heal. She has particular interests in psychology, storytelling, and working with and advocating for women. Bec combines most of these loves in her part time role as the Content and Marketing Manager at Creative Women’s Circle and via her Instagram account @conversationswithmysister. By far her biggest joy and learning curve to date is her beautiful one year old daughter.

Say hi to Bec on Instagram @becmackey_writer and @_conversationswithmysister.

How to get started with your website

Whether you have engaged a professional for the creation of your website, or decided to do it yourself, it will demand your time and attention. Before diving into the design and production of the website, it is essential to reflect on where your business is today, what your plans are, who your customers are and what is driving you to embark on this website project.

The Road Map

Starting with a business analysis will set the direction for the project and help you achieve your goals. You need to be clear on your goals in order to reach them! There are lots of way to get to your road map, but here are some pointers to get you started.

Business goals

• Do you want to expand your reach to a national and/or international level?

• Are you going online to improve efficiencies and customer service?

• Are you launching a new range of products, and looking to reach a wider audience?

• Are you refining your services to focus on a specific niche market?

Competitors review

• Who do you think your competitors are?

• Take a look at their website and online communication; what do you think they do well?

• How do you think you are different? What do you offer that they don’t, and vice-versa? Potential customers will be doing their research so what will make it easier for them to choose you instead of someone else in your market?

Who are your customers?

If you have been in business for some time, you would have seen changes in the market and in your customer base, and be able to form some typical user profiles. If you already have a website, take a look at your analytics and check where your traffic is coming from, what content is most popular, which calls to action are working, who is making purchases and where you seem to be losing traction. Whenever possible, make decisions based on data rather than assumptions.

User profiles and buyers personas

Understanding our audience means that you can create content that resonates with your buyers by addressing their needs, and overall help create a positive customer experience.

When you create some user profiles and buyers personas (which are fictional characters), think of them as real people, give them a name and refer to them with everything you create.

• Demographics

• What do they do, where do they live

• What do they need and want

• What are their frustrations, what problems do they face

• Where and how do they shop

• What are their preferred channels

• What is their personality type

Brand review

• What are your brand values

• What do you stand for

• How should you be perceived online

• What is your key message

Addressing this will help develop your brand guidelines, from a visual point of view (i.e. colour palette, imagery, typography) as well as tone of voice.

First impressions count. What should the experience look and feel like for your audience?

Content planning

Now that you are clear on your business goals, your customers and your position in the market, it will be much easier to map out your content.

Remember, your website is for your customers, it is not about you. What do your customers want? How do you address their problems? What will help them make a decision?

Yes you need to talk about your products and services but people tend to be more reactive if something speaks to them. You only have a few seconds online to grab someone’s attention so, along with the visuals, these high level messages are critical. Once you’ve captured your audience, they will start digging deeper.

You can then decide:

• What do you need to show and say?
  List all content that is important and relevant to your audiences.
  

• How will you say it?
  You can use different content types: image galleries, blog posts, product description, page, FAQ, map, video, pull quote, list, etc.
  

• How will you structure it?
  This is your sitemap, which will then help you work out the navigation within your site (one page will only be on a sitemap once, but there may be different pathways to this page on your website).

Out of this exercise, the functionality requirements will appear clearer. You may need to integrate functionality such as:

• E-commerce

• Blog

• Email subscription

• Online bookings

• A membership area

Next steps

At this stage of the project, you should feel much more prepared to get going with the production of your website. I would recommend that the next steps to be:

• The development of wireframes

• Content production

• Where will you source your content?

• Will you be engaging a copywriter and / or a photographer?

• And the fun part: design concepts!

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Emmanuelle Harrington has been a website producer for more than 20 years. For the last 6 years, her focus has been on small creative businesses, helping them find their voice and connecting with their audience by creating beautiful websites and providing personalised training. Now based in the Adelaide Hills, she has recently joined creative agency KOJO as senior digital producer. Follow her on Instagram via @studiomanusha.

Debt recovery options for small businesses

As a small business, it’s essential that you receive payment or money owed to you within a certain time-frame. If you have been unsuccessful in recovering a debt after sending your own friendly reminders, attempting informal negotiations, and sending a letter of demand, you might consider taking some more formal steps towards recovering moneys owed. Debt collection services or legal action are the next steps – and although such measures may result in a tense business relationship with the debtor, it could be that being paid is more important. Taking formal action will show your business will not tolerate non-payment, which can be advantageous in future disputes over debts owed.

Debt recovery by traditional debt collection services

Debt collection agencies usually work on a commission percentage of the debt; rates vary between 5% and 30% of the debt value – so it pays to shop around for a low rate. A letter of demand will be sent by the agency stating that the debt must be paid by a certain date or legal action may be taken, and sometimes a further and final letter of demand will be sent stating the same. If the debt is still unrecovered, the debt collection service can then be engaged by you to take legal action on your behalf.

Debt purchasing

Sometimes you may sell your debt to a debt collection service for a very small percentage of the amount owing to you. As this means of debt recovery will only yield a small proportion of the amount you are owed, it should  only be considered when you have completely written off the debt, and all other avenues are exhausted or impractical.

Online legal debt recovery

These services generate and send a letter of demand for you using information supplied about the debt and debtor, and charge you a fee for the letter. While this can seem like a quick and cost-efficient process it’s important to be aware that you lose control over what is written, and legal advice is generally not provided.

Engage your lawyer

Consulting your lawyer may be the best way to go. A lawyer can draft a specific letter of demand to the debtor that is sensitive your business relationship with that person or business in an effort to minimise collateral damage, while still asserting your right to payment. A follow up letter can be sent as well as phone reminders, and if necessary a payment plan can be worked out that allows your debtor to pay you the full amount owed without further (costly) legal action being required. A letter sent by your lawyer will hold a certain amount of weight and hopefully trigger some sort of positive action from your debtor. If there is a  reason the debtor is withholding payment, your lawyer can provide advice on your legal position, rights and likely outcome of pursuing legal action to try to recover the debt, (and whether it is worth it weighing up the legal costs). Your lawyer can help to ascertain whether the debtor has enough money and/or assets to cover the debt, before taking any legal action.

If the debt is for less than $100,000 you may recover your debt through the Magistrates Court of Victoria. (The County and Supreme Courts deal with debts for over $100,000.) Your lawyer will issue a Complaint, serve it on the Defendant (the debtor), and if there is no defence filed, file an Application for Order in Default of Defence form. If there is a defence filed by the Defendant, the matter will be set down for mention and may be referred to a conciliation conference and/or arbitration prior to a hearing date being set. The aim here is for you and the debtor to discuss and hopefully resolve the issue, and avoid a hearing.

Once you have either received an Order in Default of Defence, or been to the hearing and obtained judgment, you may need to enforce judgment if the Defendant doesn’t pay within a reasonable time. Your lawyer will apply to the court for the Defendant to attend an oral examination of their earnings and assets, and then may pursue payment through an instalment order, an earnings order (that will take payment from the debtors’ wages), or a warrant to seize property. You may wish to bankrupt the judgment debtor if they are a person and the debt is over $5000, or ‘wind-up’ the debtor if they are a company to place them in liquidation – and receive the money owed to you as a creditor. These legal pathways are not without complication or cost, and you and your lawyer will decide together whether it will be a worthwhile effort considering the time and money involved, and likely chance of success. If you are winding up a company, your lawyer will check that your debt will not be superseded by debts owing to other creditors.

Mediation

If you find out that there is a business dispute over the owed money, you can utilise a free or low-cost mediation service, such as the small business commissioner, to try and resolve the situation. It might be that the debtor is withholding payment for a valid reason, and you may both need to compromise to come to a satisfactory outcome (and avoid an expensive and stressful legal dispute.)

Banned practices for debt collection

There is a list of banned debt collection practices. In summary, the use of threatening behaviour against the debtor, their family, or on their property in any way, is illegal. If the debtor advises you in writing that they wish for no further communication to be made about the debt, then the only avenues available to you are a) contacting the debtor through an action issued by a court or VCAT; b) threatening to take the debtor to court or VCAT action; or c) applying for the debtor  to comply with a requirement under the National Credit Code (this Code will only apply if you have entered a credit contract or consumer lease with the debtor.)

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Jessica Kerr is the director of Sinclair + May. Jessica set up Sinclair + May with a view to do law differently and make legal services accessible for small businesses. Sinclair + May operate on a fixed fee basis and offer retainer services for their clients. Sinclair + May is a female-led, boutique commercial law firm and work extensively with the creative industry. You can follow Jessica on instagram @thelawyerslunchbox for more useful legal tips and see more about Sinclair + May at www.sinclairmay.com.au.

Expressing your ‘why’ in words: a case for better artist statements

Image via Unsplash

Do you ever feel squirmish when it comes to discussing your work? If so, you are not alone.  Even the most articulate creatives among us struggle to translate creative processes into digestible formats.  It is undeniably challenging to encapsulate the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of complex artistic practice in ways that sit comfortably with us.

Some of our discomfort is due to lack of writing practice and subjective over-familiarity with our chosen medium – whether it be paint, fabric or design software. Shouldn’t your excellent products simply speak for themselves? Besides, you may argue, words aren’t really your thing. Perhaps you also have an underlying suspicion that personal statements remove the mystique of your creations, or that condensing the lot into 200 words may reveal inadequacies rather than showcase strengths.  How complex or meaningful can your products and services be, you ask, if they are so easily captured in one simple assertion?

Yet the basic truth remains: the ability to clarify one’s motivation (or even distill an entire career) into concrete statements can connect you with your target audiences and propel your career into new territory. With the increasing value of online promotion and marketplaces, your words must also represent you in your physical absence.  Still, despite the number of accessible how-to blog posts out there, the standard of written output is generally mismatched against the higher quality of work offered by creatives, limiting the potential for prospective partnerships with galleries, commercial enterprises and other collaborators.

Liesl Harvey at work. Photo by John Yeats Photography

Why not consider it an opportunity?  Writing well about your work can prove that you truly have a handle on what you are doing, and why.  In a tangential way, it also confers confidence that the clarity of your words will translate to a level of professionalism and focus in your practice, in addition to quality of output.

Indeed, as you expand your creative practice you will also be required to provide more than the obligatory three-sentence artist statements. The gift of expanded commentary is in the chance for you to draw together multiple (and even seemingly unrelated) threads of your work in a coherent way, as well as linking to personal experience. Here, things get interesting: because audiences respond to authentic storytelling. They truly want to experience you, being you, expressed in a way that reflects the real you. They genuinely seek to engage with your creative journey, your unexpected discoveries along the way, and even your disasters-before-the-triumphs. This is what makes you relatable, and breathes life into your work from the audience’s perspective.

Surprisingly, then, the writing process evolves to become more about honesty and less about complicated jargon or verbal acrobatics. Paradoxically, it also offers the opportunity to admit that you may not know exactly what you are doing, or why you are doing it. Making art is, after all, a largely intuitive process guided by trust in the creative unknown. And that’s okay! Audiences don’t expect you to understand and articulate every aspect of your process or motivation – but they will disconnect if you try and bluff them.  Owning the truth about imperfections in your processes or understanding keeps the ball firmly in your court.

Some additional thoughts on avoiding familiar pitfalls in developing your writing practice?

• Limit the use of artsy-yet-ambiguous expressions. Nobody really understands them, even though we all pretend that we do. This simply creates distance between your work and a confused reader or viewer who, like the artist, may be too afraid to admit that they don’t understand what’s happening. Creativity is for thinkers, but deliberately overcomplicating things will do you a disservice.
  

• Trying too hard to describe your work. Your statements should be more about your motivation and process, and less about subjective descriptions. Interpretations and appraisals should respectfully be left to audiences.
  

• Minimise time travel! Your work is in the here and now, so it’s better to stick with the present tense. Any statements you create needn’t pigeonhole you moving forward, either – they are always open to change, and can evolve alongside your creative practice.

At the risk of glossing over the challenge of developing new skills, I do believe that we are capable of raising the bar and expressing ourselves better in words. In turn, this pays dividends by cultivating authentic connections with colleagues and audiences who genuinely wish to understand us better. 

The world truly needs what we have to offer, which sometimes requires stepping outside our comfort zones and summoning up bravery to demand only the best from ourselves. What have we got to lose?

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Drawing from diverse backgrounds in health, science and the public art gallery sector, Liesl’s passion lies where the creative industries intersect with business and audience development. She explores a variety of relevant topics and shares inspiration from around the globe via her Instagram account, @thedailyculturepreneur.

How to brief a photographer

Photo by Cherry Laithang on Unsplash

So, you’ve made the decision to hire a professional photographer. Good choice. I can’t tell you enough how important it is to have great quality imagery for your business, imagery that fits your brand and promotes you and what you do. 

You've found someone whose work you like (perhaps even through the CWC Circle database!), now it’s time to make contact. But what do you tell them? How can you ensure that you communicate what it is that you are after so that the end product suits your needs?

Well, you create a photography brief. I like to start with the basic questions – what, why and how. 

The Why

• Why do you want the images?

  • Developing an image library for advertising or marketing

  • Standardising headshots of staff for your website or annual report

  • Documenting an event

  • Capturing product shots for your packaging or e-commerce

There are many uses for imagery, determining what you want to achieve with the images will then help you determine the ‘what’. 

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

The What

• What kind of shoot is this?

  • Corporate Headshots

  • An event

  • A place

  • Products

  • Action shots

  • Campaign

  • Editorial images

• What will the images be used for?

  • Social media

  • Print media

  • Billboards

  • General online usage

  • An international campaign with a fixed term

There is a big difference in how an image is captured and processed for web use and how it is captured for print. Knowing upfront what your usage is allows the photographer to determine what equipment they need and what licensing requirements you might have.

• What style are you after?

  • Bright, high key

  • Low to mid key

  • Simple, colourful

  • Busy, energetic

  • Black and white

• What kind of background are you after?
  Plain white, natural, outdoors...
  

• Do you have a brand or style guide?
  Websites like Pinterest are a goldmine of reference images. If you see something that matches the idea you have, attach it to the brief. This helps clarify your vision to the photographer.

Photo by Kobu Agency on Unsplash

The How

Next is the how, the logistics.

• How will we capture the images you need?
  

• How many people will be photographed?
  If this is a headshot shoot, the number of subjects will determine the length of the shoot.
  

• How many images do you need?
  

• Where will the shoot take place?

  • An office

  • Studio

  • On location

• Are there any restrictions on time?
  For example, for a headshot, the subject may only a short window of time available.
  

• If the shoot is on location, do you require permits to shoot there?
  

• Do you require talent?
  If so are they models, friends, staff and who will coordinate them?
  

• When do you require the images by?
  

• Do you have a particular treatment for the images in post processing?
  

• Do they need to be a particular format or size?

By working through all of these details you will be able to provide your photographer with all of the information they need to quote, plan and execute your shoot. Feel free to get in touch if you would like a handy brief template!

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Amanda Shackleton is a Melbourne-based emerging photographer with a focus on documentary-style imagery. She is currently exploring the relationship between people and their smartphones. To learn more about Amanda, visit her website or Facebook page, or follow her on Instagram (@amandashackletonphotography).

Interview with artist Rona Green

Rona Green at her exhibition, 'Champagne taste and lemonade pockets'.

Melbourne based artist Rona Green is highly celebrated for her dynamic and highly engaging anthropomorphic prints, paintings, drawings and ‘poppets’ (soft sculptural dolls in a diorama format) that explore ideas about the nature of individuality. For more than two decades Green has adapted and honed a unique style of portraiture where human and animal features are fused to create a host of extraordinary imaginary, yet delightfully familiar characters.

Green’s prolific output of work has culminated in an impressive exhibition history. Her highly successful survey show, ‘Champagne taste and lemonade pockets’ toured Bendigo Art Gallery and Benalla Art Gallery during 2017-2018, and was followed with a solo exhibition at Australian Galleries, Melbourne.

She currently has works in a couple of group exhibitions, ‘Turn three times before laying down’ at Gallery 152 in York WA and ‘My Monster: the human animal hybrid’ at RMIT Gallery, Melbourne. Among various other exciting projects Green is exhibiting at Solander Gallery in New Zealand later this year and working toward a solo exhibition at Burrinja Cultural Centre for 2020.

When did you know that you wanted to pursue life as an artist?

Like a lot of kids I enjoyed spending time making things to occupy myself whilst growing up and this inclination has continued over the years. It was in year 12 at high school, spurred on by my art teacher James Watt, that I consciously first thought that perhaps becoming an artist was a viable option for the future.

Who or what inspires your art the most?

It is difficult to pinpoint a singular person or thing. Really it is a matter of absorbing stacks of stuff that is around and filtering it to try and make some sense out of everything. From looking at my work it is probably fairly easy to tell what is of most interest to me: animals, appearances, stories.

Artists whose work I admire include Alberto Giacometti, Jean Dubuffet, Francis Bacon, John Brack, David Hockney, Peter Blake, Diane Arbus, Philip Guston, Ida Applebroog, Leon Golub, and Ed Paschke. And I am particularly keen on Egyptian art and the Dutch Golden Age. Not to mention TV…

You work across a range of media, including printmaking, painting, drawing and textiles. What do you enjoy about working in this varied way?

When I was young my grandmother and great aunt taught me assorted crafts, and my great uncle triggered an interest in photography. I’ve always been curious about the diverse ways pictures are made. And I’m quite a tactile person; I love the feel of the materials. Really I suppose I enjoy working with various techniques as it allows my mind to think about things in different ways.

Do you have a favourite medium or technique, and why?

By now I’ve pretty much honed in on linocut as my favourite printmaking technique. I appreciate linoleums reductive and seductive qualities.

Rona Green lino blocks

Tell us about the most special or favourite piece of work you have made. Why is it meaningful to you?

The most emotionally charged piece of work I have created that means a great deal to me is a hand coloured linocut print titled ‘The Surgeon’. It pays homage to my very handsome long-time feline companion Googie, who is now deceased. He lived with me for 17 years and I will always grieve the loss of his presence even though he could be a little shit.

Clearly, animals are a central theme in your work and a big part of your life. If you were an animal, what would you be? 

Well, I have recently been made aware of the Tardigrade. Now there is a creature to be admired. It has a lot of positive attributes that would be of value. It is worth Google-ing if you are unfamiliar with them! 

"Poppets" by Rona Green

Do you listen to music while you work?

Most definitely. Music sets a pace for the task at hand. If contemplating ideas or concentrating on cutting a linoleum block or painting details, the music selection needs to be somewhat relaxing yet also stimulating, e.g. Morrissey, Kraftwerk, The Cure, Supertramp, Depeche Mode, Rockets. If I’m printing an edition of linocuts or hand colouring them, or something else a bit methodical I like a strong beat, e.g. The Dictators, Mojo Nixon, RuPaul, Pet Shop Boys, Jimmy Buffett, X Cops. When I’m cleaning up after printing I usually play Spandau Ballet!

What is the best advice you could give about living a creative life?

As an artist you are often making your way in the dark, so to speak. There are no hard and fast rules on how to go about being one. I think you best learn from observing others and what they do. Early on I really appreciated mentoring from Rosalind Atkins and Deborah Klein. They gave me their time, advice, and the opportunity to watch them work. Both are now dear friends. You absolutely need a supportive network of like-minded individuals to sustain yourself as an artist.

"The thrill of it all", Rona Green exhibition at Australian Galleries

To view more of Rona’s works and stay tuned with all her latest news, visit her website and follow this link to view a documentary on Rona Green’s work.

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Rachel Derum is an artist, arts writer and curator who has worked with Arts Project Australia, the Australian Tapestry Workshop and Kick Gallery, and continues to write for Australian Galleries, Melbourne and Sydney. Rachel has held solo exhibitions in Melbourne and has been included in group exhibitions nationally and in Barcelona, Norway, Edinburgh and London. Visit her website, or find her on Instagram under @rachel_derum.